Top 10 Actors

Tom Cruise In 1976, if you had told fourteen-year-old Franciscan seminary student Thomas Cruise Mapother IV that one day in the not too distant future he would be Tom Cruise, one of the top 100 movie stars of all time, he would have probably grinned and told you that his ambition was to join the priesthood. Nonetheless, this sensitive, deeply religious ... See full bio  » Born:   July 3 ,  1962   in  Syracuse, New York, USA

Jack Nicholosn Jack Nicholson, an American actor, producer, director and screenwriter, is a three-time Academy Award winner and twelve-time nominee. Nicholson is also notable for being one of two actors - the other being  Michael Caine  - who have received Oscar nomination in every decade from the 1960s through the early 2000s. Nicholson was born on April 22, 1937, in Neptune, New Jersey. He was raised believing that his grandmother was his mother, and that his mother, June Frances Nicholson, a showgirl, was his older sister. He discovered the truth in 1975 from a Time magazine journalist who was researching a profile on him. His real father is believed to have been either Donald Furcillo, an Italian American showman, or Eddie King (Edgar Kirschfeld), born in Latvia and also in show business. Jack's mother's ancestry was Irish, and smaller amounts of English, German, Scottish, and Welsh. Nicholson made his film debut in a B-movie titled  The Cry Baby Killer ...

Will Smith Willard Carroll "Will" Smith, Jr. (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has enjoyed success in television, film, and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him "the most powerful actor in Hollywood". Smith has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won four ... See full bio  » Born:   September 25 ,  1968   in  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Al Pacino Alfredo James "Al" 'Pacino established himself as a film actor during one of cinema's most vibrant decades, the 1970s, and has become an enduring and iconic figure in the world of American movies. He was born April 25, 1940 in Manhattan, New York City, to Italian-American parents, Rose (nee Gerardi) and  Sal Pacino . They divorced when he was young. His mother moved them into his grandparents' home in the South Bronx. Pacino found himself often repeating the plots and voices of characters he had seen in the movies. Bored and unmotivated in school, he found a haven in school plays, and his interest soon blossomed into a full-time career. Starting onstage, he went through a period of depression and poverty, sometimes having to borrow bus fare to succeed to auditions. He made it into the prestigious Actors Studio in 1966, studying under  Lee Strasberg , creator of the Method Approach that would become the trademark of many 1970s-era actors. After app...

Johnny Depp Johnny Depp is perhaps one of the most versatile actors of his day and age in Hollywood. He was born John Christopher Depp II in Owensboro, Kentucky, on June 9, 1963, to Betty Sue (Wells), who worked as a waitress, and John Christopher Depp, a civil engineer. Depp was raised in Florida. He dropped out of school when he was 15, and fronted a series of music-garage bands, including one named 'The Kids'. However, it was when he married Lori Anne Allison ( Lori A. Depp ) that he took up the job of being a ballpoint-pen salesman to support himself and his wife. A visit to Los Angeles, California, with his wife, however, happened to be a blessing in disguise, when he met up with actor  Nicolas Cage , who advised him to turn to acting, which culminated in Depp's film debut in the low-budget horror film,  A Nightmare on Elm Street  (1984), where he played a teenager who falls prey to dream-stalking demon Freddy Krueger. In 1987 he shot to stardom when he re...

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr. was born on December 28, 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York. He is the middle of three children of a beautician mother, Lennis, from Georgia, and a Pentecostal minister father, Denzel Washington, Sr., from Virginia. After graduating from high school, Denzel enrolled at Fordham University, intent on a career in journalism. ... See full bio  » Born:   December 28 ,  1954   in  Mount Vernon, New York, USA

Robert De Niro One of the greatest actors of all time, Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943 in Manhattan, New York City, to artists Virginia (Admiral) and  Robert De Niro Sr.  His paternal grandfather was of Italian descent, and his other ancestry is Irish, English, Dutch, German, and French. He was trained at the Stella Adler Conservatory and the American Workshop. De Niro first gained fame for his role in  Bang the Drum Slowly  (1973), but he gained his reputation as a volatile actor in  Mean Streets  (1973), which was his first film with director  Martin Scorsese . He received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in  The Godfather: Part II  (1974) and received Academy Award nominations for best actor in  Taxi Driver  (1976),  The Deer Hunter  (1978) and  Cape Fear  (1991). He received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as  Jake LaMotta  in  Raging Bull ...

Leonardo Dicabrio Few actors in the world have had a career quite as diverse as Leonardo DiCaprio's. DiCaprio has gone from relatively humble beginnings, as a supporting cast member of the sitcom  Growing Pains   (1985) and low budget horror movies, such as   Critters 3   (1991), to a major teenage heartthrob in the 1990s, as the hunky lead actor in movies such as   Romeo + ... See full bio  » Born:   November 11 ,  1974   in  Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Robert Downey Jr. Robert Downey Jr. has evolved into one of the most respected actors in Hollywood. With an amazing list of credits to his name, he has managed to stay new and fresh even after over four decades in the business. Downey was born April 4, 1965 in Manhattan, New York, the son of writer, director and filmographer  Robert Downey Sr.  and actress  Elsie Downey ... See full bio  » Born:   April 4 ,  1965   in  Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks was born in Concord, California, to Janet Marylyn (Frager), a hospital worker, and Amos Mefford Hanks, an itinerant cook. His mother's family, originally surnamed "Fraga", was entirely Portuguese, while his father was of mostly English ancestry. Tom grew up in what he has called a "fractured" family. He moved around a great deal after his parents' divorce, living with a succession of step-families. No problems, no alcoholism - just a confused childhood. He has no acting experience in college and credits the fact that he could not get cast in a college play with actually starting his career. He went downtown, and auditioned for a community theater play, was invited by the director of that play to go to Cleveland, and there his acting career started. Ron Howard  was working on  Splash  (1984), a fantasy-comedy about a mermaid who falls in love with a business executive. Howard considered Hanks for the role of the main char...